Fact: You basically can't go anywhere in Japan without coming into contact with green tea. It's served at most restaurants, is readily available at "konbinis" (aka convenience stores) and you can even find many delicious green tea-flavored treats (including Kit Kats and this beer, which my boyfriend gamely tried at Ichiran Ramen in Osaka).

Green tea has proven skin care benefits: A study published in JAMA Dermatology found that green tea has polyphenols (antioxidants) that protect skin against inflammation, while a study published in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity reported that the polyphenols in green tea could protect against sun damage. I've started to swap iced lattes for iced green teas when I hit up Starbucks.

Image via Gregory Leporati

I quickly noticed that nail art is the ultimate accessory for women in Japan. Everywhere I turned, women had the coolest manicures I'd ever seen. Nail art is huge in the country (here are some awesome nail art salons in Tokyo) and manicurists can draw just about anything on your nails, from cats to flowers to 3D embellishments.

Needless to say, I'm glad I got a chrome manicure (here I am showing it off while holding a gold-speckled ice cream cone at the Buddhist temple Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto) before I boarded my 14-hour flight to Tokyo. While shopping in Shinjuku (a major entertainment district in Tokyo), a salesperson even told me she loved my nails and I similarly complimented her sparkly, bejeweled nail art. Another lesson learned: Beauty has no language.

As soon as I got home, I booked an appointment at Paintbox, my favorite nail art salon in NYC.

Image via Christina Heiser

Much of the makeup sold in Japan is very lightweight — it's all about enhancing your natural beauty. Plus, Japan gets seriously hot in the summers (I was lucky I missed their epic heat wave by a week), so slathering on thick foundations would certainly pose a challenge.

I stocked up on tinted moisturizer and sheer lipsticks and used those while I traveled from city to city (here I am at a baseball game in Osaka rocking minimal makeup). I didn't have to worry about touching up my makeup on the go (or breaking out while I sweated my butt off in the humidity) and I realized that I felt a whole lot better about myself when I wasn't piled under tons of product. I've definitely embraced low-key makeup since returning to NYC. It's not only saved me major time on my beauty routine, but I also stress a whole lot less about how I look. Now that's a worthwhile lesson, even if I had to travel across the globe to learn it.

Image via Gregory Leporati